CNS - The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been named as the official point of contact for Interpol matters within the county, outside of the city of Los Angeles.

“Our goal is to bolster homeland security through enhanced partnerships with our domestic and international law enforcement colleagues,” said Martin Renkiewicz, director of Interpol’s U.S. National Central Bureau.

The department is the nation’s 64th law enforcement agency designated as an Interpol liaison office. The Los Angeles Police Department was earlier named as the liaison office for the city of Los Angeles.

Foreign investigative requests within Los Angeles County will be forwarded to the sheriff’s department by Interpol’s U.S. National Central Bureau for appropriate investigation and response. The sheriff’s department will send its cases that require international investigation to the national Interpol bureau for transmission to the appropriate Interpol member, according to Cristle Humes of U.S. Department of Justice.

The sheriff’s department will educate police departments throughout the county about its affiliation with Interpol—officially known as the International Criminal Police Organization—and how Interpol can be of investigative assistance, Humes said.